Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Chennai: At a time when the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and state government are looking for sites to build a second airport in the city, air passenger traffic for the first six months of this financial year has stagnated at Chennai airport. The numbers are marginally lower than last year’s, that the AAI has declared 0% growth for the first time in several years.
Statistics released by AAI show that Chennai airport recorded 1,13,25,821 passengers from April to September as against the 1,13,31,227 passengers it saw in the corresponding period last year. In the same period, the airport has seen a dip in domestic passengers from 83.26 lakh last year to 82.74 lakh this year, a 0.6% decline. A marginal 1.5% increase was recorded in international passengers handled.

The existing airport was supposed to get saturated next year according to growth trends seen over the past few years. But this deadline has been pushed to 2024 because of sluggish growth.

Authorities feel that the current airport may suffice if terminal capacity is added. The new terminal being planned will increase passenger handling capacity to 30 million per year. A satellite terminal is also being planned, in case passenger and flight numbers grow exponentially by 2024.
30/10/19 Times of India